The Prince and the Servant Girl
by KARAtheGreatNerd
Summary: This is just a Cinderella style story with Loki and Y/N, I don't reply know why else to say besides the fact that this is not the place to find a love at first sight kind of story.
1. Chapter 1 :The Beginning - Childhood

Three children were running and hiding from one another, all three were covered in mud. The girl among the three, Y/N , was a lively child who was laughing at the fact that she had just beaten Thor in a mud fight.

The said Prince was completely covered in mud the only part of him that wasn't was where he had wiped his eyes to see.

The third child among them was the young Prince Loki, although he too was covered in mud it wasn't half so bad as that of his brother.

The three children emerged from the small wooded lane that leads through the woods to the lake, they were laughing and having the sort of care free fun that only children are capable of. The lovely Queen Frigga was sat at the table in the garden of her dear friend Y/Ns mother, while having cakes and tea. Upon seeing the state three children were in she smiled.

The Queen had a soft spot for the young girl who seemed to have her son's under a spell, although she was hardly surprised, when Y/N was born a witch had foreseen Y/N living in the palace, among royalty. Y/N had been told this story a lot during her childhood, which had always led to the rumour of which Prince she would marry, especially when she would play with the Princes.

The Queen simply waved her hand and all the children were suddenly clean again, " I take it that Y/N won?" The Queen chuckled.

All three nodded of course Y/N nodded with the most enthusiasm, Thor and Loki didn't look quite so pleased. "Well then, congratulations my dear. It's time for us to go now I'm afraid, your father will be expecting us. "

They all said there fair wells, and all agreed to meet up again soon.

x

However none of them knew at that point the next time they would see each other would be sooner than they thought.

x

Less than a week since the mud fight, the same three children stood next to each other watching the funeral pyre as it burned all that was left of Y/N's mother.

Y/N had tears rolling down her face while the either side of her held her hand, the Queen was standing with them, as Y/N's father, Harold, was still away on business.

It was Prince Loki that helped Y/N walk away from the flame, this was when Y/N's father came, the Queen stood with the children while he said his goodbyes and paid his respects. When he came out the Queen and Harold spoke in hushed quiet voices but none of the children paid much mind to what was being said.

Y/N looked up at her father and he leaned down and picked up his distraught daughter, put her on the horse with him and galloped off.

Little did they all know how different things would be when they would meet again.

x

A few months later Y/N was still upset but her father had written to her while he was away on business that he had met a woman with a daughter who was about the same age as Y/N, and he had fallen in love and they had married, but she would never replace Y/N's mother, and they would all be home within a week.

This had obviously meant that all the staff at the house were running around trying to make everything perfect. Y/N liked to help it kept her busy which meant she didn't have time to ponder on sad thoughts, and also because of how often her father was away, the servants of the house were like her family and she did genuinely want to help them.

x

Y/N's stepmother, Lady Creel, seemed to take an instant disliking to Y/N, but never outwardly said anything , it was a cold demeanour and a stoney silence that told her this. Her daughter, Astrid, was no better, she refused to play with Y/N and wouldn't share anything with her.

Barely a month into the new marriage Lady Creel announced that she was with child, of course Harold was delighted and doted on Lady Creel night and day and showered her in gifts.

But of course he once again had to go away on business, but this time he never came back, he died while away.

The family came home after the funeral, the three of them were all wearing black cloaks, Y/N removed her cloak to reveal her black mourning dress, Astrid removed her cloak to reveal a bright pink gown, Lady Creel removed her cloak to reveal a bright red gown, neither of them were mourning.

"Black was never my color. It's just so unbecoming." Lady Creel declared.

"Especially when one's so young and pretty." Added Astrid.

The pair threw their cloaks at Y/N and started to giggle. Y/N was about to head up the stairs, when the cold voice of her step mother stopped her.

"Where do you think your going?" She demanded.

"To my room." Y/N answered quietly, her voice was strained from crying.

"My dear child, nothing is 'yours' now, your an orphan, your very lucky I'm going to even let you stay here. All the rooms in this house are mine now. Your father my Late husband, sadly missed by us all, is dead, child. Dead and buried beneath the snow in the same grave as your dear mother. That is a double misfortune for you. And now you must start a new life. Your father, as a token of his great love for me, saw fit to make a will placing you in my care and protection.

Believe me the streets aren't kind to beggars. But from now on you are a dependant, you will have to work to earn your keep. Do you understand?" She belittled.

"My father never loved you. You tricked him." Y/N angrily declared.

"How dare you!"

"You tricked him!"

"Well… Well if I did, he did not liveto rue the day, did he? And now you can curb. your tongue; cultivate humility, know your present place." Lady Creel sneered and seemed to relish in it.

"I hate you!"

"Now, listen to me, girl, and hear me well! Blood is thicker than a widow's tears, and God knows I have shed enough of those. I have my own daughter to support, which has forced me to make certain economies in the household. But being a woman of principle, I shall honor your father's last wishes and continue to provide a roof over your head below stairs! And do not think you will find sympathy with the staff. The staff have been dismissed. You are now the staff." It was all getting to much for poor Y/N to take she was getting confused and she was struggling to keep her emotions under control

"To take orders instead of giving them. Mostly from me." Astrid sneered, just like her mother.

"Never!" Y/N hissed defiantly.

"Oh, yes. You will cook and you will carry. You will fetch and you will mend. Your father's will allows and the law upholds. So, take your pick, either accept your lot or go to the orphanage." Lady Creel offered.

"They tell me, Y/N,one can be awfully happy there and very warm. They sleep 6 to a bed. Not counting the rats." Smirked Astrid.

"Do not tease,my darling. It spoils your looks." Chastised Lady Creel to Astrid, who immediately did as her mother had told her."From now on you shall refer to me as Ma'am or Madam, and you will address Astrid as Lady Astrid or Miss Astrid." Lady Creel sneared boastfully to Y/N.

Y/N resigned herself to her fate as she was too tired to fully understand and argue, not that it would do any good. She turned and headed towards the kitchen walking past Lady Creel when an arm blocked her path she looked up to see her step mother giving her an almost evil stare. "Well aren't you going to thank me?"

"Thank you?" She answered bewildered.

"For not throwing you out into the street, to keeping you here out of kindness, charity. I've often been told I have too big a heart. Don't forget your now meant to curtsey everytime you pass Astrid or myself."

All Y/N did in response was nod and curtsey and head towards the kitchen while carrying down the cloaks.

She could hear the two of them talking ,"Burying husband's is a cold job and now I have buried two." Lady Creel lamented.

"Oh poor Mama." Cooed Astrid.

She had just made it to the stairs when she heard them demand some tea and make a start on supper.

 **A/N just so you know I have never written a Y/N kind of story before but please leave a review to let me know how it sounds or help me improve.**


	2. Chapter 2 Years Later Strangers Meet

Years past, Y/N's fun in the woods become nothing more than treasured memories. She still visits her mother's favourite place, it's just a small clearing near the lake surrounded by the thick evergreen trees of the woods, which was were she had planted a tree for her parents. Y/N's life continued in much the same way, she had become nothing more than a servant in her own home, it is hard to believe a child that once played with royalty had become the lowest of the low.

Y/N had the same spirit and fire she had as a child, even though Lady Creel has tried to break her spirit she had yet to succeed, maybe in a few years she would finally break her. Lady Creel would often say that it would seem that the world had completely forgotten about her. But Y/N held strong, although she never said anything about knowing royalty, although she hadn't seen them all in so long she felt like she would be betraying them. So to her it seemed as though she was saving them from Lady Creel.

Lady Creel went on to have a daughter, Freya, when she was first born Lady Creel had wanted nothing to do with her as she held a dislike to babies and enjoyed her sleep too much to deal with the young infant. So Y/N had been tasked with caring for the child on top of all her other chores. One day she had taken her to her mother's favourite place and then Lady Creel took the child back so she could be trained to be like Astrid. Even though she was only a child she behaved worse Astrid to Y/N, although Lady Creel didn't deem her important. No Astrid was the important one, she was of age to marry just like the two Princes. She still spoiled Freya but she wasn't dotted upon as Astrid was. This was one of the reasons Y/N felt the need to 'protect' her Princes, and friends from her Wicked stepmother.

She did as she was told but always had a defiant spirit, one day just after she had got back from getting Lady Creel, Astrid and the young Freya ready for a trip to town she decided to visit her parents 'grave'. She didn't get to go often as she was very busy but she would still go whenever she had the opportunity. Although she would love to take flowers, there was nowhere she could get any without picking them herself, she discovered as a child she felt bad for picking flowers either because she felt like she was killing the flowers or felt bad for the person who they belonged to. So she went without flowers she just sat there by the tree reminiscing.

She thought back to when she was a child and how she had been surrounded by unconditional love but didn't realise until it was too late and gone. She had come to the conclusion that she assumed as a child that the love would always be there for her.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice that there was someone else in the woods. There was man who was walking through the woods headed for the same place where she was, he was holding a book, but when he saw Y/N it was like he had seen a ghost.

But thinking about the past would always make her question her future.

Would she be surrounded by love again?

She couldn't imagine getting married for any reason but love, but then with her life the way it was she didn't get to choose anything.

Would she ever marry and have her own little family?

Would her children play in these woods as she had done with the Princes?

Her thoughts once again drifted to the Princes, what were they doing now?

What were they like now?

Do they even remember playing here with her? She guessed not, the Princes would have more important things to think about and remember than girl they knew long ago.

Eventually Y/N realised it was getting late and that the others would be back soon. So she started to run through the trees, she knew her way she had often thought that she couldn't get lost in these woods.

Once she got near to the house she realised she was already too late, but that wasn't going to stop her from trying so she ran to the back of the house and used the servants entrance. She scurried into the kitchen and sat by the now dying fire and tried to make it look more cheerful. She looked at the table and saw a ridiculous amount of different dirty vegetables.

"So, you are returned at last! You wicked girl, how dare you disobey me! Where have you been?" Lady Creel demanded sharply.  
"I only went to my parents' grave, stepmother." She realised by the look on her stepmother's face she had made a mistake.  
"How touching… With flowers from my garden, stolen flowers!" Lady Creel accused.  
"No."  
"I say yes ! I say you stole them. You're not only a liar but a thief, and thieves we know must be punished. This is your place, and there is your task." There on the table is the huge pile of different vegetables that all need to be washed, peeled and cut before cooking. Lady Creel continued. "We are expecting guests for dinner tonight...Important guests. And for repaying my kindness with cunning and deceit, henceforth, you will not dare to venture from this room without my saying. Is that understood?"  
"Yes, Ma'am".  
"Then make a start and make amends." With that her stepmother turned and left the kitchen.  
Y/N made a start at the vegetables on the table but she was rather slow, she knew there was no way she was going to finish even half of this but she couldn't give up, she was never one to give up.

She was startled when there was a knock at the door, if it was a guest they would be at the front door.

She cautiously got up and went to the door and answered it, standing in the doorway was a tall rather handsome man.

"Were you expecting me?" He asked with a low, smooth voice.  
"No. I wasn't expecting anybody." Y/N replied slightly baffled.  
"Funny. You should have felt something. I'm losing my touch. Could I come in and rest by your fire, please? I've been traveling a long way." He seemed to be staring rather intently at Y/N, which was making her feel more than a little self-conscious.  
"Well... I'm not supposed to talk to anybody or see anybody, but…" She looked around to see if there was anyone, but obviously there wasn't, so carried on. "Yes, of course. You're welcome to share my fire… " She opened the door some more and let the stranger in, "Such as it is, but I'd be obliged if you didn't stay too long. Please excuse me if I carry on working, but I have to finish these, and I'm very slow. I can put another log on the fire for you." She finished as she looked at the work she had left to do.  
"Thank you, but no the fire shall be fine as it is. There are more ways than one of peeling potatoes." He said a little to himself, Y/N was too busy peeling potatoes to notice the man wave his hand and the fire grow.  
"The fire seems to have cheered up." Y/N noticed a moment later, " I could warm you a little broth if you like?" Y/N offered.

"No, thank you. But thank you for the thought. Live down here on your own, do you?" The man smiled, he nodded his head over to where her small bed was against the other wall. Now that he was next to the fire Y/N could get a better look at him. He had brown curly hair, chocolate brown eyes, he was tall and had a slim build. He was wearing blue trousers, with a matching blue waistcoat with a dress shirt underneath with a green cravat.

"I do now." Was all Y/N replied.  
"Yes. Things have changed. But that doesn't mean to say they won't change again. I get around quite a bit, you know." The stranger replied a little cryptically .  
"Must be nice to travel." Y/N replied while she carried on with her vegetables.  
"Yes and no. I sometimes wish I could settle in one place, but there's never enough time." Y/N nodded as the man spoke, as she too had the same sort of wish.

"I'd like somewhere cozy, with a dog to keep me company. I would love somewhere near a lake and a forest, you know. Maybe a little family one day." Y/N said wishfully.

"Well you never know what the future holds, Y/N."

Y/N didn't even notice that the stranger knew her name. "Suppose not." Y/N muttered.

"May I come and see you again?" The gentleman asked out of the blue.  
"I'm just so afraid of what my stepmother will say."  
"Y/N!" Lady Creel screeched.  
"There she is, and I haven't finished! She can't see you, I've got to hide you. Or I will be in so much trouble." Y/N had started to get panicked at the thought of what her stepmother would do, she was already being punished as it was.  
"Well, I'll be off. I've seen what I want to see. You just take care of yourself, until we meet again, Y/N." He headed to the door and the pair smiled at each other when a thought struck Y/N.

"Wait, I don't know your name."

"Charles."

"Well Charles, until we meet again." Y/N smiled as he walked through the door.  
"Have you been struck dumb, girl? Oh! Answer me when I call. You know I hate having to raise my voice. Now, I hope you have been hard at work. I... I see." Lady Creel condescended.  
"Well, uh…" Y/N looked at the table expecting to see what she hadn't finished, she wasn't even half way through. But when she looked at the table that was not what she saw, on the table was all the vegetable in neat piles, all washed, peeled and cut as though by magic. Y/N's jaw dropped as did her stepmother's, she obviously didn't think she would have done it.  
"Uh, I see. I see I shall have to give you more to do next time. I expect you are wondering why we went to town? Well, the Queen and her two sons are coming tonight." Lady Creel sneered boastfully.

"What?" Y/N couldn't believe her ears.

"Yes, well I couldn't very well have you serve royalty, something would go wrong as it always does you stupid girl, and I couldn't let you cook for royalty. So I went into town to get some decent staff for the night, so go and get out of the way for the evening. Go and help Astrid get ready, she has to get the attention of a Prince, my Astrid will be on the throne. Now go!"

Y/N didn't need to be told twice she ran past her stepmother up the stairs, on her way she bumped into a group of people some chefs and others maids, and headed upstairs to help Astrid get ready.


	3. Chapter 3 :Getting Astrid Ready

As Y/N had thought getting Astrid ready was going to take some time and an awful lot of effort on Y/N's part.

"There you are you lazy creature where have you been, light the fire I have been chilled for nearly an hour." Astrid complained, while sat in front of her mirror brushing her long blonde hair. " But don't touch anything with your dirty hands, this is my room now."

Y/N decided not to mention out loud that she was more than capable of lighting a fire herself, and just got on with the two at hand.

"Would you like anymore logs on the fire, Miss Astrid?" Y/N asked politely.

"No, go wash your hands and run me a bath." Astrid demanded.

"Yes Miss Astrid." Y/N dutifully replied, as she went into the side room and made sure that the bath was not too hot or cold, she made sure she added the 'perfect' amount of lavender oil, but really Y/N thought it was too much. She then made sure to have rose petals in the bath before she went to go and get her step-sister.

"Is my bath ready?"

" Yes, Miss."

"About time too." Astrid got up and headed for the bath, Y/N was making an internal bet of what would be wrong, something was _always_ wrong, especially for Astrid.

Astrid stood over the bath and scoffed, "You really are useless aren't you, there are too many rose petals." Y/N still wasn't facing her so made no effort to hide the roll of her eyes.

"Oh, forgive me, I am sorry, I will get it right next time." Y/N muttered loud enough for Astrid to hear. Astrid didn't say anything to this, either ignoring the sarcasm or didn't understand it.

Astrid stood there for a minute while Y/N gathered the different soaps and lotions that Astrid would need as well as towels and her robe.

"Oh, will you hurry up, come here and help me!" She demanded, although she sounded an annoyed toddler.

"Coming."

Y/N helped to unlace her step sisters dress and corset and helped her into the warm water. Y/N then had to _help_ Astrid wash her hair, and by help she meant she had to do it for her, and once Astrid was done with the bath she had to help her out of the bath.

She then had to help Astrid into her robe, brush her hair , then she had to help Astrid get into her best dress, which took a lot of work since the dress was barely big enough. So Y/N had spent a long time tightening the corset , once that was finally done, she had to do Astrid's hair, and of course Astrid wanted a complicated updo.

Y/N had just finished lacing her sisters ankle boots and doing her makeup when Lady Creel demanded that she and Freya needed help as well.

Y/N then had to go and help Freya get into a dress and do her hair, which was more difficult than it sounds, Freya was a child who couldn't sit still and liked to cause trouble.

Then Y/N went to help her stepmother.

"Oh the lazy creature decides to show her face at last." Lady Creel says. It's getting dark now and all Y/N can make out is Lady Creel's silhouette against the grey background of the window and the slight flickering glow from the candle she is currently holding.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, I was with miss Astrid and miss Freya…"Y/N explained.

"Shut it! I don't want to hear your useless excuses ! I let you stay here out of charity and look at what I get in return, if it weren't for me you would have starved in the streets!" Lady Creel hissed.

"Yes, Ma'am, you are too kind to me." Y/N whispered, after all these years she had started to wonder what life would have been like if she wasn't here, but she could never see anything positive. There was nothing positive out there and nothing positive in here.

Lady Creel sighed, "Yes, well help me get ready."

Y/N nodded, she helped Lady Creel pick out a dress, and helped her change her into it. She then brushed her hair, much like she had earlier with Astrids.

Lady Creel also wanted a complicated updo, although Y/N was grateful that she didn't have to do her stepmother's make up as well.

"Your not to come down tonight, I can't have royalty seeing you here, so you will stay up here, out of sight." Y/N received a glare at from her stepmother at this, " No sneaking around, Freya will be sent up to you to be put to bed. Once our guests leave you may return to the kitchen to wash up and go to bed. Understand?" Lady Creel questioned.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good, now go."

Y/N watched as her family came out of their rooms all dressed up in their finest outfits, they went downstairs to await their imperial guests. They didn't have to wait for long.

A few minutes after they had gone down stairs there was a knock at the front door. Y/N couldn't keep her curiosity in check, she decided that if she hid, she wouldn't get noticed.

So Y/N was hiding behind the banister of the corridor above the hall, she couldn't really hear what was being said but she assumed it was just general pleasantries and she guessed an awful lot of groveling from her stepmother trying to gain favour.

Y/N didn't even have to see what was going on to know Astrid was batting her eyelids at the Princes, probably Thor, after all he was the better match, as he was older.

They made their move across the hall to the drawing room, so Y/N hid again so she wouldn't be spotted. She popped her head back up again when she thought they had all passed.

However as she popped her head up Prince Loki looked up and their eyes locked for a split second before Y/N panicked and ducked back down. The Prince looked up at her intrigued, smiled to himself shook his head and carried on.

All Y/N was thinking was that Loki had grown into a handsome man, he still had beautiful eyes and if her stepmother found out about that she was dead.


	4. Chapter 4- The Royal Meal

Y/N was still by the banister to see if she could catch a glimpse of any member of the royal family, as well as trying to see if she could work out if Loki had snitched on her.

Which made her wonder, did he recognise her? Undeniably she had changed, as a child she had once worn, well on occasion, the finest clothes that money could buy, like Astrid did now.

Even if he didn't know her, she knew him, well at least she thought she did once, long ago.

Astrid, was hanging off Thor's arm, though he didn't really look interested, Freya was standing beside her mother who was next to the Queen and Loki followed behind walked through the hall to the dining room. Lady Creel once in the doorway turned to look right where Y/N was, as did Loki. Y/N ducked as quickly as she could, but she didn't think it was fast enough, no doubt she would be in trouble once the guests had left. Loki might have said something. Lady Creel looked for a moment longer before she turned and entered the dining room .

After a while ,Y/N was watching as the staff that Lady Creel had hired for the night were running around, making sure everything was perfect. Then once dinner had started being served Y/N couldn't believe the amount of food being carried through the hall and the food just kept coming. After about an hour the food stopped coming and the everyone went back to drawing room, this time Lady Creel didn't look to see Y/N, but once again Loki did look.

A little while after everyone had entered the drawing room Lady Creel rang a bell for a servant to come and take Freya to bed. The maid lead the child up the stairs where she left her with Y/N.

Now although Freya could be difficult when she was tired she was easy to handle. Sometimes Y/N found it hard to comprehend that Freya was her half sister and yet the lives they lived couldn't be more difficult. Y/N felt sorry for the young child, she never knew her father she always lived in Astrid's shadow, and she had never really had a loving mother . Every night Y/N put Freya to bed, Y/N used to sleep either in the same room or next door to Freya when she was younger, incase she woke up in the night, now Y/N had a small bed in the kitchen. Lady Creel had made it obvious that she did not care for babies or young children.

Freya ran at Y/N who then picked her up and carried her to her room and helped her get ready for bed. Y/N tucked Freya in, and sat next to her on the bed and told her a story. Although Y/N did enjoy reading she wasn't particularly good at making it sound good to a listener, so she made up stories instead.

Once Y/N was sure Freya was asleep and wouldn't wake up she made her way out of the room, just in time to see the guests leaving. Once the door closed Astrid let out a loud squeal which made Y/N wince from the top of the stairs and she went to check Freya was still asleep.

By the time she was certain the child was asleep Lady Creel and Astrid was at the top of the stairs.

"Where have you been all evening?" Lady Creel asked with suspicion.

"I stayed upstairs out of the way, like you told me Ma'am." Y/N replied.

Lady Creel just nodded and told Y/N to downstairs and get on with the washing up.

By the time Y/N made it to the kitchen everyone else had left, having finished their duties. The pile of washing up was huge, it would take all night to do. Y/N had made a start at the washing up and had been at it for about an hour but really you couldn't tell. She was about to run some more water and add some wood to the fire so she would be able to see what she was doing.

Y/N looked at her bed longingly, it was hard and the kitchen was damp, she was always cold but right now that the bed looked like heaven. Y/N decided that she would just do the washing up in the morning, she would just have to get up earlier than normal. So Y/N got into her bed, and stared at the washing up she would have to do in the morning and she drifted to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5: Town

Y/N woke up early as always, she lit the fire and made a start on some of the washing up mainly the pans. She made a pot of tea and made a start on breakfast, while that was cooking she went and lit the fire in the dining room ready for her family, then she set the table.

By the time she made it back to the kitchen one bell started to ring indicating that her family would want their food in a few minutes. She was about to plate it all up when she realised she hadn't washed any plates yet. So she made quick work of a couple of plates, just enough for breakfast, then she served the food up and headed upstairs, trying to be as quick as possible in an attempt not to upset her family.

"There you are, what took you so long." Lady Creel snapped, she was not a morning person, and neither was Astrid.

Rather than give an answer or make an excuse Y/N decided she wasn't in the mood for that so she just apologised.

Her family didn't say much to her, she was about to leave the dining room when Lady Creel called out to her.

"Y/N, we are going into town again today, and your coming with us, so go and get ready." Lady Creel waved her hand dismissively towards Y/N who took it as a sign that she could leave.

Y/N went downstairs frustrated, this threw all her plans out, she had chores to do, if she went to town then she would be behind on all her chores for the rest of the day and have to go to bed later to make up for lost time and that didn't even include the washing up.

Y/N went to get herself ready for her trip to town and was just putting on her cloak when a carriage came into view from the house. Lady Creel had demanded that there should be blankets in the carriage, so Y/N had her arms full of blankets.

Y/N was relieved to see that it Robin who was coachman, he was always lovely and treated Y/N far better than her family. He would always talk to her, help her on and off the carriage, he was a real gentleman and Y/N didn't have many of them in her life anymore.

Robin smiled when he saw her and once the carriage was safely stopped he jumped down and took the blankets from Y/N and put them in the carriage, while she went to get her family.

Y/N came back out and the pair chatted while they waited for the family,they came out a few minutes later, since they never rushed, Robin offered his hand to Lady Creel and Astrid, who although they took it looked down their nose at him, he picked Freya up rather than helping her in, then closed the door behind her. Y/N was not allowed to sit in the carriage with her family and had to ride up front with Robin.

Robin helped her up and before he got up himself and the carriage was away.

Robin was always Y/N's favourite coachman, most of the other coachmen made Y/N feel uncomfortable, whereas Robin was lovely and the one the family saw the most of but that could be because he liked Astrid.

The ride to town was long and bumpy and rather cold, but Y/N relished the feeling of freedom even if only temporary.

Once they finally arrived in the square of the town, Y/N jumped down from where she sat before Robin could come and help. Robin did however go to help the others out of the carriage. Robin agreed to meet the family after lunch beside the fountain and promised to watch the blankets which cheered up Y/N.

The family traipsed around town, they bought something in almost every shop and made Y/N carry everything. By the time the family were going to lunch Y/N had multiple bags hanging from her arms while she had boxes piled high to the point that Y/N was barely able to see over the top of them.

Since Lady Creel didn't want Y/N to join them for lunch, Y/N was told to walk home, with all the boxes and bags. Y/N had been walking for about five minutes and was at the bridge when a carriage rushed past her, causing her to drop all her parcels. Y/N bent down to pick up all but was surprised when she saw another pair of hands do the same, she looked up and smiled when she realised it was Charles.

"Are you alright? That was a rather close call." Charles questioned while he seemed to be looking for injuries. "It's just so like those royals, they don't care if their in any bodies way!" Charles seemed to hold a bitterness in the way he spoke and his eyes hardened but soften again once he looked at Y/N.

"I'm sure they were going somewhere important." Y/N countered quietly, as she stood up with most of her parcels, Charles had the rest.

"I doubt it."

Y/N didn't know how to reply to that, "Thanks, thanks for your help." Y/N went to reach to grab the rest of the stuff so she could make her way home and get on with her chores. Some of the packages were now slightly damaged or torn.

"Allow me, I couldn't possibly allow you to carry all this, please allow me to help you." Charles said in a voice that didn't leave room for arguments.

Y/N decided not to argue and accept the help for as long as it would last, there was no way he would go all the way back to the house.

On the way home the pair made small chat, about everything. Eventually the conversation steered in the direction Y/N was dreading.

"So why are you walking, with all these parcels?" Charles asked, only sparing a side glance at Y/N as both were focusing on the uneven surface of the road.

Y/N considered how to answer the question.

Charles must have misinterpreted the silence since he added, "If you were able to buy all this then why not hire a carriage to take you home?" He seemed genuinely perplexed.

"Well, I came to town on a carriage, but I have always enjoyed to walk. You know it's peaceful and it gives you chance to think, besides these parcels aren't for me." Y/N pointed to the hat box that Charles was carrying, " Can you imagine me wearing something as awful as that? If you can, I seriously misjudged you!" Y/N looked serious and Charles looked worried which made Y/N burst out laughing. "Oh, goodness, I'm sorry, you should see your face, I'm only joking." She choked out while laughing.

Charles looked not only visibility relieved but amused, almost satisfied. Neither one carried on the conversation that they had been having.

They reached the house before they knew it, both were surprised. They got to the door and Y/N put everything down to find the key but she couldn't find it and started to panic, she looked like she was about to cry.

But Charles suddenly stopped her, "That's why I came after you before, I saw you in town and noticed you dropped something, a key." He put all the parcels down and pulled out a key, Y/N smiled in relief but still looked like she might cry, but she threw herself at Charles and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He seemed shocked at first but after a moment he hugged her back.

Once the door was open, Y/N wasted no time picking up all the parcels and started to take them upstairs to be put away. When she came back down Charles was in the kitchen, the fire was lit and all the washing up was done.

Y/N gasped when she saw, which made Charles turn around and look over at everything.

"Sorry for not putting it away, but I wouldn't know where to start." Charles seemed apologetic, although, once again Y/N thought she could cry this was the nicest thing anyone had done for her in a long time. Y/N decided she obviously needed more sleep since she was so emotional.

"Oh you didn't have to do that. Thank you so much, how did you do it so fast." Y/N gushed.

Charles smiled, and he was about to reply when they heard the sound of horses which meant the carriage was back, which meant so was the family.

Charles took this as an opportunity to take his leave.

Just as the door closed behind Charles her family started to shout orders.


	6. Chapter 6 Chores

The next day the family had left Y/N alone as they had been invited to go to a party at an important friend home for the weekend. Y/N decided that she would make the most of this time until she saw the list of chores that had been left for her the scroll was twice as tall as she was and double sided. She resigned herself to her fate, however she did enjoy the fact that she could be as loud as she wanted. Which meant that she was singing rather loudly and dancing with the broom trying to make the best of a had situation. She was in the kitchen when she heard a knocks at the for, she opened the door ready to inform whoever it was that the family was away. Later she got a rather pleasant surprise when she opened the door to see Charles staying there. He greeted her with a warm friendly smile, which was something Y/N didn't see often anymore. She quickly let him in, and ushered him towards the fire while taking his coat as she would for any guest.

"Hello, sorry to keep bothering you like this but I was feeling a little redundant and desolate and thought that maybe a walk would improve my mood but before I knew it I was here I hope you don't mind?" Charles stated although it did seem that he thought over every word carefully and analysed them before saying them out loud.

"Oh no not at all, it would be my pleasure to help a friend, and improve their mood, and your especially in luck today as there's no one here. They've all gone to some party and are away all weekend." Y/N explained.

"So your enjoying a weekend off, would you not like to be at the party?" Charles seemed genuinely interested and curious.

"They may not be here but I certainly don't have a weekend off they left a list of chores." She went over to the fire and grabbed the scroll that she had put on her chair. She handed it to Charles, "See for yourself."

Charles let the scroll unroll and stared in almost horror at the length of the scroll, "Surely they can not expect you to do all this in just one weekend it's not possible."

"It is possible although it doesn't leave much time for fun, and it's double sided." Charles then looked at the other side before decided and declaring that he would help her to complete the chores.

So that is what happened, Y/N decided that since Charles had done the washing up once before and since there was only a few dishes that was what he would do.

Y/N left Charles to do that while she went and scrubbed the hall stairs. Charles didn't take very long to do the washing up, so a few minutes later he came to join her. He grabbed a scrubbing brush as he was about to put his hand into the bucket to help scrub the stairs he was stopped by Y/N. She had to remind him to roll up his sleeves or he would ruin the sleeves on his father fine pale green shirt, he looked rather bashful, but Y/N was just a little confused as to how he had done the washing up but kept that thought to herself.

She then showed Charles how to properly scrub the stairs without leaving smear marks but in the end they both ended up slashing each other with water. However Y/N was rather observant and noticed that Charles hands were starting to go red and she could tell they were getting sore so she made him stop scrubbing the floors before his hands blistered. Y/N was now used to this and her hands were almost always blistered and sore. This meant that Charles was now at the bottom of the staircase with the broom and dancing with it and trying to get Y/N's attention, at which he was succeeding. So when she finally finished scrubbing the stairs and she grabbed the mop and copied him. Dancing and twirling, which lead to a lot of laughing form the pair.

The pair were having a great deal of fun, that even when Y/N slipped and landed on the bottom step on her bum that she continued to laugh ."You know I don't think chores have been this fun." Y/N declared, between laughs. Charles stopped laughing as soon as she slipped and ran over to check she was alright. He looked so worried that it made Y/N laugh all the harder.

Eventually when Charles had come to the conclusion that she had managed to not injure her self that he allowed himself to chuckle.

He helped her up and took note of the state of her hands although he said nothing. Y/N went to grab the buckets but Charles would not allow this, which meant that Y/N was only allowed to carry the mop and broom. The next task on the list was to get one load of washing off the line and put the next load out, and to chop some more fire wood for the house. Charles carried out the washing out to the washing line, Y/N left him the task of getting the load of washing in ready to be folded when they got back inside ready to be put away, and to peg the new load of washing out.

Charles was completing his task and as he did he was watching Y/N get an axe and start chopping the wood ready for the fire.

"I can do that, a lady such as yourself should never have to take part in such a task." Charles said as he came over and took the axe from Y/N.

Y/N tried to protest but Charles was having non of it, so she gave up and decided to get on with the washing. She tried not to watch him or notice the lean muscles of his arms. She also tried to hide her giggle and smirk as Charles manager to fall backwards, although she did check he was alright but the only bruised was his pride. It took a few more swings and practice tries with the axe to get it right, although once he did he seemed rather pleased with himself.

Y/N took one load of washing in and folded what needed to be folded and made a pile that needed to be ironed. She then went back outside and started carrying the wood to different parts of the house, where it was needed. Although Charles tried to argue that he would do that, Y/N made the point that she knew where it was needed and it would mean that job would be done sooner and especially as it was getting dark. So Charles relented and agreed, which meant that it wasn't too long before the pair were back in the kitchen next to the fire which Charles had lit and looked at proudly. Y/N had also grabbed some blankets due to the fact it was cold outside and the kitchen wasn't really the best room to try and warm, it only had a small fire and was always damp.

The pair were both just staring at the flames as they danced and enjoyed the company the other person provided.

The pair sat there for what could have forever, and talked about everything and nothing, They talked of their childhood, although Charles was a little vague. It was during this that Y/N noticed the fact that Charles had blue eyes, although she was certain he had brown eyes when they first met. She told him the story that she had been told as a child about living in the palace one day, and Charles told her he could imagine that. Although he did not look impressed when she said the only way she would ever get to be in the palace was being a servant.

Y/N can feel herself getting more tired and watching the flames she felt her head get heavier and heavier and eventually found herself with her head on Charles shoulder. She fell asleep like this and Charles when he noticed this, which took some time due to the fact he was lost in his thoughts. He picked her up and carried her over to her small pathetic bed and laid her down gently and tucked her in. With just a flick of his wrist his appearance melted away leaving the Prince, Loki standing there and with another flick of his wrist the thin blanket turned into a thick duvet. He kissed the top of her head and left a note for Y/N when she awoke and he then slipped away into the night.

 **A/N sorry for the delay** x


End file.
